Q: “Our company recently began to assemble
our own garage doors by buying sections and components from
various suppliers. However, I am concerned about technical
and safety issues. From your perspective, what are some key
issues to consider?”

A: You must first realize that you are now considered a “manufacturer”
who is responsible for the final installed assembly of components.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) made that clear
in its previous interactions with the industry, and case law
also supports that position.

Your responsibility does indeed extend to the technical and
safety aspects of your doors. As a manufacturer, you will
be expected to (1) produce detailed drawings, (2) produce
written installation instructions, (3) know and follow applicable
industry standards, (4) be aware of common industry practices
and general guidelines, (5) be aware of CPSC concerns, (6)
know the local codes in the areas where you do business, (7)
back up the performance of your doors with proper testing
and engineering, and (8) provide a means by which you can
assure consistent high quality of complete, installed assemblies.

It sounds like a tall order, but these are common everyday
requirements that DASMA garage door manufacturers
accept and
apply. DASMA has published many free garage door standards
and Technical Data Sheets to help manufacturers in these areas.
You can find them at www.dasma.com.

Additionally, DASMA and IDA are working together to develop
a set of best practices and guidelines for those who assemble
sections and components into complete garage door systems.
Look for an announcement about this in the near future.

Fire Door Tests

Q: “A local building official told me that
the rolling steel fire door I want to install must be fire
tested to ASTM E119. The door has been fire tested to UL 10B,
but he said that testing to UL 10B is not acceptable. Why
not?”

A: The International Building Code (IBC) states that openings
(e.g., for rolling fire doors) shall not be limited to 120
sq. ft. if (1) the “opening protective assembly”
has been tested to ASTM E119, or if (2) the adjoining fire
areas have an automatic sprinkler system. Thus, in your case,
your door must be larger than 120 sq. ft., and the adjoining
area does not have an automatic sprinkler system.

To find out the difference between ASTM E119 and UL 10B,
I contacted Matt Schumann, a UL Fire Protection Division project
engineer. He says the two tests have one major difference.
ASTM E119 measures the rise in surface temperature for the
entire duration of the test. However, UL 10B simply measures
the rise only for the first 30 minutes of testing.

He says that the primary purpose for testing to ASTM E119
is to qualify a product (1) to block the spread of flame and
(2) to prevent the transfer of heat. However, the primary
purpose of testing to UL 10B is to prevent a fire from spreading
through an opening in a fire wall.

Rolling steel fire doors are not normally designed to be
tested to ASTM E119. Other products on the market, including
some glazed materials, are designed for this purpose.

Therefore, a product other than a rolling steel fire door
may be needed in the opening, or (according to how the code
is currently written) an automatic sprinkler system may be
needed. Matt says the current IBC provisions may need revising.
DASMA is working with UL and others to investigate this possibility.